Truffle Genus: Chlorophyllum

Kingdom: Fungi Phylum:Basidiomycota Order:Agaricales Family:Agaricaceae

Spore Characters

Surface: Smooth.
Shape and Size: Ellipsoid, 6.5-8 x 5.5-7 µm.
Wall: Thick.
Color in Water: Brown to smokey.
Melzer's Reaction: None.
Comments: Germ pore lacking or inconspicuous.

View photos of Chlorophyllum spores

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: Subglobose to globose, up to 10 cm tall and 7 cm wide.
Peridium: White to pale tan, smooth with minute hairs.
Gleba: Lamellate, slightly powdery at maturity, brown.
Odor: Indestinctive.
Comments: Transferred to Chlorophyllum by Vellinga (2002).

View photos of Chlorophyllum sporocarps

Name Derivation

Named by English mycologist George Edward Massee (1850-1917) from Latin chloro (green) phyllum (leaf) for the green tone to the lamellae.
The species name agaricoides coined by Czech mycologist Vassilii Matveievitch Czernajew (1910-2001) for the agaric-like appearance of the sporocarp.

Distribution

Conifer forests (and other habitats) across the northern regions of North America and Europe.

Season: Summer and autumn.
Species known from North Temperate Forests: One truffle-like species, Chlorophyllum agaricoides, in an otherwise mushroom forming genus.

Keys and Descriptions

Smith et al. (1981).

References
Smith, A.H., Smith, H.V., and Weber, N.S. 1981. How to know the non-gilled mushrooms. WM. Brown Company Publishers; Dubuque, Iowa. 324 pp.
Vellinga, E.C. 2002. New combinations in Chlorophyllum. Mycotaxon 83: 415-417.